Guilty pleas from shoplifting duo
A shoplifting duo have admitted using baby car seats to smuggle more than $2000 worth of groceries out of Taranaki supermarkets.
Eden Maree Mackay, 27 and Tracey Ratahi, 43, began their stealing spree in Ha¯wera on December 5, the New Plymouth District Court court was told.
The summary of facts provided by police said the first stop was a Bunnings hardware store on Glover Rd, where they spent a considerable amount of time walking around, concealing items worth $3858.37.
They walked out without making an attempt to pay and left in a vehicle heading towards New Plymouth.
About 6.30pm the defendants entered Stratford’s Countdown supermarket, each carrying a baby car seat capsule covered with a blanket.
After putting the capsules into shopping trolleys, Mackay and Ratahi walked around the supermarket and stashed stolen items inside them.
They paid for a small amount of groceries and left without declaring the other groceries they took and subsequently packed into bags.
At 7.30pm, the pair arrived at the Valley Countdown store in Waiwhakaiho, New Plymouth, again with the car seats in hand, and carried out the same strategy they used in Stratford.
They went around the supermarket concealing items before paying for a fraction of what they had chosen and leaving.
The women then hit the Spotswood Countdown and repeated the offences.
By 9pm, they arrived at the Vogeltown Countdown and again deployed their modus operandi again. However, this time the twosome were stopped by staff at the self-service checkout.
About $540 in stolen groceries were found and the police, who turned up to the call-out, found multiple shopping bags ‘‘crammed’’ with items in the pair’s car, the summary of facts said.
These shoplifted items had a total value of $2314.70, the vast majority of which was undamaged and able to be resold.
When processed at the police station, Ratahi’s wallet contained 0.15 grams of methamphetamine while a gas blow torch and a glass pipe was found in her handbag.
Police found 0.93g of methamphetamine in the glovebox of Mackay’s vehicle, along with a glass pipe.
During their appearance in the New Plymouth District Court on Thursday, Ratahi and Mackay each pleaded guilty to seven charges – four counts of shoplifting of goods worth more than $1000, one of shoplifting items worth between $500-$1000, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a glass pipe used to smoke the drug. The women will be sentenced on April 3.